Just introducing myself and admitting to my semi-obsession with building light bikes. That is the first step, correct?...This is one of five bikes, my daily crit/riding bike (depending on wheelset). I was running a Basso Gap Ti titanium bike on loan from a good friend and went down on that a few weeks back...so I wanted to put together a better (less expensive and less sentimental) bike for next year's races. I picked up the frame/fork/headset for $200 and I am pretty damn happy with it thus far.

I have not raced it yet because the season is winding down, but it feels pretty damn good thus far and it is not nearly as harsh as any aluminum bike I've ridden to date. Salsa did an excellent job on the design of the bike and it is too bad they are not bringing a revision of this model back next year. Salsa Podio details can be found here.

The only items in full carbon are the crankset, part of the FD, and RD. I have not been a fan of that material because I have not been able to find an easy way to recycle it...which just makes it more landfill IMO when it fails.

I am happy to address any questions, comments, criticisms, etc.Christian.

Last edited by ChristianK on Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Great bike and a top notch weight but slagging off alu as harsh is a bit of poor form.

That is not quiet what I said, "it feels pretty damn good thus far and it is not nearly as harsh as any aluminum bike I've ridden to date." I can see how that could be misinterpreted, but I have no hate for any metal frame. Thanks for the complement regardless.

Tokyo Drifter wrote:

Like.

There needs to be more light(ish), properly built steel roadies IMO.

Rides better than Ti, lasts forever and a day.

The one problem is that you have a whole lot of head tube for a race bike. That said, for $200 you can hardly complain.

Agreed, I have been looking for a 51cm Podio frame for a while and just have not come across one. This bike has gotten good reviews elsewhere, so I imagine that the owners want to hold on to the frames. I just finished a fitment with my coach and he did not comment much about the head tube since the final dimensions are within millimeters of my other race bikes. If I can stay competitive on this bike, then the few additional centimeters of head tube won't bother me at all.

I have a custom steel race frame being fabricated right now. I would like to wait on comments as to whom is doing the work and specifications until I see the final product and give the builder and bike an opportunity to perform. My goal is to get that bike built at under 14lbs with not too fancy of parts....except for the wheelset. I will likely use carbon on the seat and I am looking at Mad Fiber for the wheelset. Until then, I am still researching for a facility that can recycle the carbon fiber properly.

prendrefeu wrote:

You race a crit every day? What city/place offers a crit race every day? That's awesome! (If you like crits. I don't.)

ChristianK wrote:

I have not raced it yet because the season is winding down,

Wait... what?

Also (because I wasn't kidding about the above comments), three notes:

Salt Lake City, UT. Snow usually hits the ground here around Halloween, which is coming up soon. We usually have three crit races a week during the season, and one TT...which just ended and now cyclocross season is upon us. Mix that in with other competing crit series events in nearby cities, occasional century rides/races, and the weekend recovery rides...we get several days of good racing/riding in per week. I can usually only do 3 actual race events a week and have enough recovery time to stay competitive. I tried 4 race days/week, but I am not fit enough to handle that for too long. I can feel myself lag down when I try that...so 3 races a week for now.

1. I agree with your comment on Salsa as a MFG, I have been nothing but pleased with this bike. I am a little bummed they are not bringing another version out next year. This is a great bike for the money IMO. I think the framset new was around $800.2. 6' with a 34.35" inseam, tall enough, but not too lanky. 3. Funny link, I understand google is a good resource. Although, actually establishing a relationship with a bonafide CF recycler whom recycles things in a proper fashion is a different story. Until I am comfortable with not creating additional landfill, I am going to stick to the alloys that I know I can take down to my local metal recycler, get cash in my pocket, and start the process over again for some future alloy purchaser to enjoy. That simply makes more sense to me...to much stuff is thrown away when it breaks and very seldom are recycleable things recycled properly IMO.

I'll say this now because my co-workers, family, and friends have told me for years that my text responses are too harsh, etc. I am old enough to know that I cannot change that. I do not intend to offend anyone, just giving you my perspective on things and responding where I can...just shrug anything off that offends ya.

Nice bike indeed. I ride a Podio as well and did crits and road races on it. I also did RAGBRAI on it and a century. It is a good all around bike. I run Campy 10 on mine as well.

One thing I had an issue with during a century was the Alpha Q fork' steer tube was way flexy so I replaced it with an Easton EC90SL and that made a marked improvement in handling and confidence. I bought mine new and have been told that Alpha Q has since stopped making forks.

Anyway, Nice bike and glad to hear that you are as happy with yours as I am with mine.

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